So one of the most fun things this summer was watching a couple of birds set up camp in our bird feeder to prepare for a little one.
Like March of the Penguins, McCook style - they tag teamed who was watching the egg, we witnessed the way that one would hang on a wire, the sitter would go meet it on the wire and then they'd hang for a couple minutes then make the switch.
And at the end?
A little baby.
I have lots of pictures to get posted up here, but have been a colossal slacker. Plus have had massive issues with internet connectivity lately. And I'm lazy.
Anyway, we will be losing the empty lot next to our driveway due to a library expansion project (much needed expansion project) so in order to reclaim a BIT of our yard space back next year, I will be reconfiguring the garden and moving all the boxes along the fence, clearing up the back third or so of the yard. It'll be interesting!
And in sad, sad, sad news (which actually made me cry real tears of frustration and disappointment) I had to rip down almost ALL of the green that had been growing in the garden.
Let me back up:
Last summer, I had a TON of volunteer cherry tomato plants that grew on the other side of the fence from old tomato plants that just went to seed. Guess what? I made a ton of sauce. And I had tons of tomatoes. And they were tasty and delicious.
So this summer, when cucumber vines started growing all over the place, I didn't take most of them down because I thought "wow! Volunteer cucumbers all over the place! Everyone will get pickles for christmas!" and let the vines grow and grow. Even when they started to shade out some of my tomatoes. Even when they hid some of my peppers.
Until I went out there the other day and saw that THERE WAS NO FRUIT ON THESE VINES. That's right. NO CUCUMBERS. When I get the pictures up, you'll see why I was so shocked and angry with myself for being so stupid. Last year I didn't have the bee in my bonnet about getting all heirloom/organic/non-GM/non-hybrid seeds and plants. Some of them were, sure. But not everything. Not the cucumbers, apparently.
I have deduced that that is what happened here. Because why else wouldn't anything have produced fruit?
So I've torn down all the green. And decided to make some lemonade with this little lemon situation, and am dedicating myself to planting some awesome stuff for a fall garden.
Oh, and in other sad news, my raspberries took a BEATING in a series of summer storms and have been cut down pretty low. Also disappointing and frustrating.
It hasn't been a banner year out in the garden this year. I've had better years in my 7 years of gardening. And I'm sure I'll have worse years as I continue to learn and experiment.
More to come...
